Khomeinism

Khomeinism is the founding ideology of the "Islamic republic" of Iran. The ideology was named after its main theorist, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who supported replacing Iran's millenia-old monarchy with theocracy. His ideas and movement bore a striking resemblance to populism, leading a movement of the propertied middle class that mobilized the lower classes (especially the urban poor) in a radical protest movement against the established order. It attacked the upper class and foreign powers, but not property rights, preaching a return to native roots and eradication of cosmopolitan ideas. It claimed a noncapitalist, noncommunist "Third Way" towards development, but was intellectually flexible, emphasizing cultural, national, and political reconstruction, not economic and social revolution. He opposed Western-style democracy and Marxism, but he expressed support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Khomeini also supported sharia law, opposing women serving in the Majlis due to his belief that it was similar to "prostitution", strongly opposing atheism, and believing in the eradication of Western culture. After his death in 1989, those in politics attempted to emulate his ruling style as a sort of litmus test for leadership ability.